Health Insurance

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Paul L

The OP said they would be charged HK$3,300 a day. That is US$425.


Paul L

OOPS!

Missed that.

Sorry.

[TabbyCat]

Originally Posted by sww914
I've never heard of any insurance that will cover something that happened before coverage started. Are you saying that you will cover a pre-existing condition or are you just trying to sell something?

No, not trying to sell anything. As I said, I don't do health/ travel insurance myself. I just thought Get-A Life was asking for future reference

How do other cruisers cover themselves for this sort of emergency?

so I thought I'd point them in the right direction. Thanks, Osirissail you did a great job with that.

[SaucySailoress]

Once again, I'm going to show my ignorance of life on the other side of the puddle...

What I'm getting from this thread is:
Don't visit America, it costs too much if you have an accident

So, clearly when we circumnavigate we plan to go through Panama and wherever else we fancy in South America cos it's cheap to live there, and affordable health care.

Now then - what about the Caribbean??? Is that part of the USA - are parts of it part of USA (I'm guessing Cuba isn't....) Do you need US health insurance some places there....???

[osirissail]

Specifically for the eastern Caribbean except for the US islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgins most all of the Leeward and Windward and South American coastal islands are either European owned or associated and operate similar to European medical systems. The only major consideration would be if you have a uncommon medical problem that is not "normal" to the natives of the region - then you might have problem getting proper comprehensive treatment. That is were your "med-e-vac" insurance comes in to get you back to your home country. But for all basic or normal medical needs the services are fine and extremely reasonable. "Co-pays" or even the whole bill will normally be a miniscule fraction of what North American medical costs currently are.
- - As to the USA/North America, unless you are traveling with a medical condition that is precarious, or allergic to factory made food, you should be able to enjoy the whole area without need to worry too much. You are traveling in your own "home" and with your own "kitchen," etc., so again, unless you are accident prone it should not be a major problem. And - there are plenty of private doctors who will accept "cash" patients at a fraction of what they bill for "insurance covered' services.
- - Central America is another story altogether - at least from the anecdotes from the area about medical services. It seems that lots of North American doctors retire or move there to get away from the chaos of North America and subsequently advanced medical care is available and extremely reasonable to the point of almost non-belief about how "cheap" it is. Maybe cruisers currently in the region can expound on that more.

[Ken on Satori]

Best not have a heart attack. My last heart cath ran 26K for the doctor and 78K for the hospital. That was 19 hours total- time in to time home. The hospital price has come down just a bit, my first and second ones cost just over 85K each. Be aware my doc ended up with just over 5K of his 26K bill. Still not bad for a hours work. He did 4 other heart caths that day. 5X5= a good day. Ken

[John A]

This is a very personnal decision that each of us must make. I can only relate my experiences. Yours will be different.
As a fulltime solo cruisier, I had IMS off shore insurence and at 60 years old the primiums were $3200.US a year. By 2004 the premiums had risen to $4000 US a year.
In June of 2004, while in Trinidad, with prior approval from IMS I had surgery to remove what turned out to be catogory 3 cancer from my bladder, no follow up treatment was required. Three days in a private room, surgery and everything else came to $5200 US. Sending all receipts to IMS resulted in a check for $1500. It was a difficult decision to cancel the insurance after having the surgery, but I did chiefly because of the lack of IMS paying for a bargan, but more because the premiums for a 65 year old rose to $4400 a year.
I was told that if I had had the surgery done in the US, the payment would have been larger, of course the total bill would have been larger too.
Five yearly examinations in Trinidad were $1500 US each. Negitive can be a very beautiful word, I was lucky..

[Tom and Maje]

There are a few UK or EU based insurance companies that offer reasonable insurance outside of the US. Most other countries do not have bars against pre-existing conditions.

Maje

[Ahnlaashock]

This spring, my sister was bent over pulling weeds out of one of my elderly mother's flower beds. Mom saw a small snake and yelled. Snake!. My sister jumped back, tripped over mom, twisted as she fell, and stuck her arm out to catch herself. Her arm collapsed sideways and the bone was sticking through the skin for about 5 inches. The idiot EMT grabbed her arm above the break and by the wrist. He pulled the bone back inside straight again, grass, mud, and all.
I witnessed this stupidity.
By the time the infections were over, they had been inside three times removing grass and dirt, and they had it pinned to an external plate, she was in the hospital 70 days, many in intensive care.
You don't want to know what the total bill would have been.
Unless you are as rich as Bill Gates, you certainly don't want to get caught in the US in such a circumstance without good health insurance.

[avb3]

I know a number of Canadians who only carry what is termed as "emergency medivac" insurance... which brings them back to Canada for treatment here.

I am not sure if this is appropriate coverage for a heart attack or stroke, but pretty well everything else can withstand a 4 hour plane ride.

As most of you know, once we get back to Canada, our medical system covers everything while in hospital.

I hope this doesn't get into a debate about government vs. private insurance, or "choices" or "wait-times". As example, I called my docs office last week to book an annual checkup, and am going in this afternoon. My GF needed a specialist last month, and was in within a week.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by avb3

I know a number of Canadians who only carry what is termed as "emergency medivac" insurance... which brings them back to Canada for treatment here ...

Cruising Canadians should not presume that all they need do is get home, and their health needs will be served.
Ontario, for instance, requires that you prove actual residence for a minimum of 180 days per year. Less, and you get cut off OHIP, and will have a 3 month waiting period after you PROVE resumed residence.

[Lodesman]

Gord,

I think most if not all provinces have that 180-day rule. Did you carry insurance when you were cruising?

Most readily-available "travel insurance" has limits to the length of the policy (from a few weeks to 210 days). Anyone know any companies that offer reasonably-priced insurance to cover emergency medical care for non-US citizens?

[avb3]

It is my understanding as long as I maintain a "permanent residence" in Alberta (our rules are a bit more generous here), then this is not an issue.

Now, when it comes to taxation issues, that is a whole different ball-game, and one may not want to have permanent residence in Canada, however, that is a topic for a different thread, and I am not trying to hijack this one.

It appears the answer for Canadians is that make sure you know the rules in your jurisdiction, as it varies. Most probably have the 180 day rule

[GordMay]

No, we didn’t carry any supplemental health insurance, whilst we cruised.
When we started out (1992), we got an extra 12 month extension on our OHIP (designed for foreign students & workers), and then another 12 months (30 months altogether); after which we were uninsured, for 7 years.
I forget the small (but significant) detaiuls, so encourage all to due their own due dilligence.
I don't know of any failsafe manner, in which to maintain a "legal residence", when one is not actually present.

[osirissail]

About almost ten years ago while I had my boat repair business in Florida we suddenly noticed that almost all the Canadian boats disappeared from the boatyards and marinas. We asked one of the few remaining and he said that the Canadian Government was going broke paying for medical of their citizens in the USA for long periods of time. So they instituted a "surcharge" of (if I remember correctly) about US$2500/person if you were going to be in the USA for more than a month or two.
- - Then years later a Canadian friend who was living on her boat in Miami had to go back to Montreal to "live" there for 6 months in order to re-instate her medical. Exact details are fuzzy but the gist is that Canada does not want to pay for the sky-high costs inside the USA and has instituted serious restrictions that you need to first-hand carefully research and document from the appropriate government source.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by osirissail

We asked one of the few remaining and he said that the Canadian Government was going broke paying for medical of their citizens in the USA for long periods of time. So they instituted a "surcharge" of (if I remember correctly) about US$2500/person if you were going to be in the USA for more than a month or two.

Each province has a slightly different plan, with all covering certain requirements the feds demand.

That being said, I am not aware of ANY of the provincial plans covering medical costs outside of Canada, hence, I would question the $2,500 figure, especially as I have many times been in the States for 2-3 months. I should be clear, because of the excessive costs of hospitalization in the U.S., I always carried full travel health insurance. I would not be so inclined in the Caribbean, as the medi-vac insurance would cover most issues.